In the 22nd round of the 2021/22 Championship season, West Brom beat Reading 1-0 at home, narrowing the gap with the straight promotion zone to three points. Coronavirus and injuries have resulted in as many as 10 out-of-the-packs, but the tenacious bloomers have won with a one-hit combination of their old partners Grant and Robinson.
In a routine midweek nucleic acid test, four players in the bloomers tested positive, all from the defensive line, including Kipre, Clark, Townsend and Ajay. Deangana is negative but at home, and Brian, O'Shea, Phillips, Snowgrass and Zohor are injured and missed the game. Batley is the only one left at the centre-back, with cameos at Livermore and Ritchie, and the three centre-back combinations barely make up the number.
West Brom quickly took the initiative after the opening, and the first two chances belonged to Robinson, who first saved a low shot and then deflected the header. Afterwards, Moert and Grant also had two shots on goal, with Grant almost forming a single knife using the opponent's mistake, but was unfortunately saved; Moert had a good chance to shoot and flew away. At the end of the first half, Robinson's shot was slightly deflected off the top of the arc, after which his impenetrable goal was pushed out by Carol on the goal line. In the final moments, Reading almost ran out of the left rib single knife, but it seemed that the pass was deflected out of the far end. The two teams ended the half 0-0.
West Brom remained dominant in the second half, with Morran bisching Robinson, whose low shot was deflected again. In the 62nd minute, the kung fu paid off, Gardner Hickman directly into Grant, who crossed from the bottom and Robinson, who grabbed the front point, crashed into the net, and West Brom finally took a 1-0 lead! Robinson had a chance, but his header was deflected off the corner, and a wonderful arcing shot was saved. Grant also had a low shot saved in stoppage time, culminating in West Brom's 1-0 win over Reading.
West Brom line-up:
1 - Johnstone; 8 - Livermore, 5 - Bartley, 20 - Richie; 2 - Furlong, 14 - Morumbi, 27 - Moart, 29 - Gardner Hickman, 7 - Robinson (86'41 - Fellowes), 17 - Hergill, 18 - Grant